A return to Normal
by hooahrtr
Summary: Wally West has returned from a year long deployment to Afghanistan. How will his experiences there effect him and his relationships with the team, with the League and with his family. Rated M for violence, gore, and language.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Wally West, young justice or Young Justice. The unit he is in is fictional, as are all supporting characters from that unit.

A/N: Here it is guys, after over 4 years on ff, my first ever story.

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><p>-Afghanistan, Kandahar Province, 12th ID, 180th reg, 1st battalion, Aco, 2nd plt:<p>

Wally walked down the dirt road running through the afghan village they were patrolling. It was a small place, no more than 60 families, with mountains on one side and a valley filled with farmland spreading out on the other. Today was more of the same, a routine patrol to check up on the local leaders, build relationships etc., etc. It was nothing new to Wally, he had been in Afghanistan for close to seven months now, it was routine.

His fingers drumming steadily on the receiver of his m4, he thought back to what led him to this point.

***Flashback, 2 years prior***

Wally sat in the kitchen of his parents' home; he looked at them and let out a deep breath. It had been a year since he decided to leave his super hero life behind and had convinced Artemis to do the same. Now he had to tell her and his family what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He needed the money for school; his parents could not afford to send him to Stanford and the scholarship that they had offered him did not cover nearly enough. Of course that was only part of it, he also missed the action from being a super hero, he just could not stand the double life that it required.

Looking at his parents faces, he stopped and stared at Artemis " I need to tell you guys something, yesterday I enlisted in the army." He paused letting it sink in his parents had stiffened and Artemis had only narrowed her eyes at him. "I can get the money for school, and I will only have to be active duty for a few years, It won't be a big deal." He said hoping to calm them down, calm her down. Artemis however just stood up and walked out her face turning red. He followed her and what happened next was one of the longest fights of their history as a couple. What was he thinking, how could he do this after all he had said about leaving the super hero life and the team, and much more was thrown at him as she ranted for what seemed like an eternity. It had taken a while to calm her down but she begrudgingly accepted the idea, forcing him to agree to not do anything to Wally-like and get him self hurt or worse.

Later the Justice League had been informed and he had to have a very long conversation with them about not using his powers unless it was completely unavoidable, and even then to not let others see him, since he was now under contract to the government, if they found out he was a super hero then there was no telling what could happen. Not to mention the Justice League could not be seen to be taking sides in an international conflict. Long story short, he was on his own.

*** End Flashback***

Wally was brought out of his thoughts by the man standing by him, Collins, a short stocky blonde from Ohio who was his fire teams S.A.W gunner and probally more talkative than Wally. " West, West,… hey GINGERFUCK!" He finally shouted.

Startled Wally turned to look at him " What is it man?"

"Miller wants us to check out the back of that house over there." The blonde replied gesturing towards a squat home on the edge of the village that Miller, their team leader was currently moving towards with the other member of team, Garcia.

Wally nodded and moved towards the building edging around it, his finger twitching towards the trigger in anticipation. Turning quickly around the corner he raised his rifle, his heart punding in his ears.

Then…nothing, he found himself staring down his rifle at a fucking goat, a damn goat. Dropping his rifle back to the low ready he let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. Collins came up behind him and let out a soft chuckle. " Shit man" he said simply before " looking around some crates nearby.

"Well like I was saying" Collins continued " What we really need is to have the government make the Justice League a spec ops force or some shit then we wouldnt have to be out here in this shit hole of a country going up and down mountains."

While he spoke did Wally tuned him out turned and looked out over the valley, it was nothing but farmland and low stone fences, maybe a few trees. It stretched out close to six hundred meters across and as far as he could see in length. To be honest the country was quite beautiful.

Turning to his left he spotted the other fire team from his squad milling around where some of the locals were, making sure that they were not causing trouble, that their need were being seen to and all of that other hearts and minds BS. Gary Lewis a brown haired man from northern Michigan spotted him and gave a small wave before turning back. Wally returned the wave and was about to turn back when he spotted movement to his right in the valley.

No sooner had he spotted it than several loud cracks went off. He dropped to the ground as he watched Lewis collapse face first into the dirt land let out a strangled scream as he rolled around. Quickly cries for 'Medic' and shouts of 'where the fuck did that come from' echoed out as men took cover.

_Ohh shit_ Wally thought as he looked back over the small stone fence he had dropped behind. He spotted several men running around in the fields firing shots at them. Raising his m4 he began firing as he shouted out "Out in the field, 11 o'clock, about 200 meters!

He kept firing as he listened to the rest of his squad echo out the distance and direction he had called. He could hear their platoon leader shouting out aver the sounds, and could see other squads moving into place. Aiming he watched as one of the gunmen moved from cover to a spot right in front of him. Wally suppressed a smile as he squeezed the trigger.

_Crack Crack Crack Crack_

Wally's rifle kicked slightly in his hands and he watched as the man dropped down, a red mist around him. Now the Justice League had a strict policy of no killing, one which he had always believed in, but the war had shattered that. Without his powers and without a court of law to rely on for justice it came down to him. Sure he had been in life or death situations before but that was different, with super villains you knew who they were and while they tried to kill you, you still knew that they were doing it. Here it was different, any one could be an enemy, and anything could be a bomb, you were on hyper alert at all times, death was every where, bombed out buildings and vehicles were scattered across the countryside.

" Bravo team on me!" Miller shouted out, breaking Wally out of his thoughts as he stood up to follow, they were flanking to the right with the whole squad as the rest of the men held the enemy down, a text book maneuver but effective none the less.

Running Wally heard rounds start to shift and their direction, they had been spotted. Dropping to the ground he watched as Garcia moved up and fired his m203 at the enemy position with a _thunk. _

Wally heard the satisfying sound of the explosion and rolled up to a kneeling position letting of a quick succession of shots towards the enemy.

Miller stood up "Bravo assault through!" he belted at them before moving, Wally getting up to follow after them, the others where breathing heavily at this point but Wally was barely breaking a sweat. Moving through the enemy position they kicked weapons away from bloody bodies as they did, it looked like they had killed them all before they had even assaulted through.

Wally nodded at his team mates as he set up security and began checking himself over for any injuries, surprisingly he was ok. Smiling he relaxed a little as he felt his adrenaline start to wear off, and he took a ciggarette from collins when the chatterbox offered him one, he never would have dreamed of smoking back before this but know it was so relaxing.


	2. Prologue Part 2

A/N: Hey here is the second Part of the Prologue. Sorry if these seem a bit sloppy and rushed I didn't write an outline for these parts.

Also I will be updating at least once a week.

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><p>-Afghanistan, Kandahar Province, 12th ID, 180th reg, 1st battalion, Aco, 2nd plt<p>

Wally finished his cigarette as he stood up putting his kevlar on over his shortly cut red hair. He checked to make sure he had a full can of dip and pack of cigarettes before he stepped onto the grill guard of the Humvee and climbed over the hood before dropping into the turret. They were doing a mounted patrol today, nothing out of the ordinary, just like every day.

Below him in the rear drivers side he could hear Collins talking " I am just saying man, vietnam had whores, WW2 had them, and you can be damn sure they were in Korea, so where the fuck are ours?"

Wally smirked " Collins do you ever shut the fuck up?"

The blonde laughed and replied sarcastically" Sorry, I forgot that you were promised to another."

Wally smiled thinking about a beautiful blonde waiting at home for him, he was nervous though, what if she was still mad? A man Artemis was not a happy prospect. Mentally stoing away that thought he rechecked his weapon system as their vechicles began to move.

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><p><strong>Later that day<strong>

Wally scanned the countryside as they sped down the road and let out a long sigh. When you could travel at nearly the speed of sound a Humvee was painfully slow. He swiveled in the turret, guiding the .50 cal across a small farm house, looking for targets, anything to relieve the tension.

He heard Collins come on over the radio as he drove "You see anything Wall-man?"

" Dirt, a couple of sheep, some farms….you know the usual." Wally replied.

"Yea yea, fuck you too buddy." Collins chuckled.

Their squad leader Harrison came on "Collins keep your eyes on the road dip shit, West, stay sharp. There were six ambushes on this road last month alone."

Wally nodded and began to look across a ridge to their right. At any point up there could be a sniper staring down his scope at them, or a man getting ready to set off an IED on their route when they passed it. Or that man could just be a shepherd moving his flock along the ridge like his family has done for generations.

He was broken out of his musing by the sound of gunfire, the radio quickly became cluttered with men shouting distance and direction, and orders on where to fire. Rolling his eyes Wally looked around and spotted the building just as Miler came on the radio "West small home 2 o'clock, fucking open up. "

Swiveling the turret he began to trail the building slightly as they slowed down opening fire as the heavy thunder of the .50 cal filled his ears. Keeping his aim somewhat steady he watched as the building became pocket marked by rounds. The Humvee stopped and he kept firing while everyone dismounted only pausing to let the smoke clear briefly.

When he did he watched as a man came running out of of the building and led him slightly before firing. Almost as soon as he heard the sound of the weapon fire he saw the man drop, Wally could have sworn the man's leg came off.

Dismounting they quickly moved out to the building, while another squad provided over watch for them. Bounding up by fire team the advanced on the building, Wally's eyes searching for any sign of movement.

As he approached Wally could see one body already on the ground, it was the man who had tried to run away moments earlier. He had indeed lost his leg, just above the knee, blood from the severed artery soaking the ground. " Fuck yea I got him." Wally said as he kept his eyes on him for a second before moving one to the house.

Stacking up outside they prepared to enter, the other fire team pulling security outside. Wally was second in line as they moved into the building. Walking down the hallway he kept his weapon raised as he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise.

Garcia was leading when they came up to a room on the first floor and he braced himself on the wall. Wally moved to the opposite side of the hall way, keeping his weapon trained on the doorway. Wally nodded to Garcia who braced himself and donkey kicked the door in while Wally rushed in, sweeping his m4 across the room before nearly dropping it in shock.

Inside the room was a family, all dead. Their bodies had been shredded by large caliber rounds as they lay huddled in the corner. Wally could tell it was one of the rooms he had fired at as he shoved past Garcia to get out.

" West, West you ok?" Garcia called after him.

Wally nodded placing his hand on the wall for a moment, before taking a deep breath and standing up straight. "Come on man we still have to clear upstairs."

Moving up the stairs slowly Wally forced the images from the previous room to the back of his mind, that could be dealt with later, right now he had a mission to run. Moving down the narrow hallway he heard something at the end of the hall. Suddenly a man wielding an AK-47 burst out of the door.

Wally fired so quickly, he couldn't even count how many rounds went off. The man dropped back into the room he had just come out of, his feet sticking out of the door way. He heard Collins shout from downstairs asking if he was ok.

"Yea, just some rag head saying hi." He shouted back looking back at Garcia who was motioning to a door down the hall. Nodding Wally raised his rifle while they approached the door way. He hated this part, every time you felt like there were a dozen enemy soldiers behind the door waiting to kill you, but you have to be thorough and check every room the results of not doing so could be worse than if you did.

With Wally close behind him Garcia opened the door with the muzzle of his m4. To late did Wally notice the wire at the top of the door. Reaching forward faster than any human should be able to Wally grabbed the back of Garcia's vest to pull him back, but he was not fast enough.

The next thing Wally knew smoke was filling the hallway and he could hardly hear anything except for a slight ringing in his ears. Trying to move he felt pain along his right leg and arm. He also felt something heavy on top of him, and his left arm was trapped under it. Looking towards the object he saw it was Garcia, and as he slowly squirmed his way out he could see the full extent of the damage .

Garcia's face and neck along with his extremities had been shredded by fragmentation and burns, one of his eyes and half of his jaw was missing. As Wally slid back in disgust he felt himself fading and looked at his arm and leg. Blood was running down them and pooling on the dust covered floor as he struggled to remain calm, gradually though his vision turned to black however and the worried shouts of his team mates got further and further away.


End file.
